1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid fire extinguishing composition useful for a wide variety of a fire extinguishment. More particularly, the present invention is directed to effective liquid fire extinguishing compositions which are obtained by mixing a halogenated alkane such as Halone 1301 (CF.sub.3 Br), Halone 1211 (CF.sub.2 ClBr), or a mixture thereof with an organophosphorus compound or the mixture thereof in an appropriate ratio.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various types of fire extinguishing compositions are well known in the art. Such fire extinguishing compositions include foam extinguishants, dry powder extinguishing agents based on monoammonium phosphate and vaporizing liquid fire extinguisher based on halogenated alkanes.
Such foam extinguishants which extinguish a fire by applying foam to prevent oxygen from supplying from air together with cooling by water. They have advantages in that their cost are cheap and they can be used in case of a conflagration. However, they have disadvantages in that they require a great deal of water to produce foam so that they are not suitable for portability and Class C fire such as a fire caused by electricity.
Such powder extinguishers based on monoammonium phosphate, sodium bicarbonate, potassium bicarbonate, etc. are thermally decomposed to produce ammonia, carbon dioxide, and water. Ammonia and carbon dioxide formed therefrom dilute concentration of oxygen in air or prevent oxygen from supplying from air while water formed therefrom undergoes cooling to extinguish flames. In addition, anhydrous substances are usually fused to be adhered as a coating on the surface of burning materials, which eventually prevent effectively from contacting with air to accelerate fire extinguishment. One of such powder extinguishers, ABC powder extinguisher based monoammonium phosphate has wide effective applications in a fire caused by electricity or oils including a usual fire caused by woods. However, they have disadvantages in terms of solidification and quality deterioration etc. caused by hygroscopicity during long-term storage and bulky extinguishing appliance. Another problem in foam extinguisher and powder extinguisher lies in the fact that they leave dirty traces behind in the wake of fire extinguishment. These problems provide a vital defect in case of fire extinguishing of expensive fine quality goods.
Other types of fire extinguishing material include, for example, vaporizing nonaqueous liquid fire extinguishers based on halogenated aliphatic hydrocarbons which are decomposed by flames to terminate continuous combustion reactions. These Halone extinguishers have advantages in that they provide a clean environment after fire extinguishing. However, they are relatively expensive and high volatility. Furthermore, they give more ineffective situations than powder extinguishers against surface fires of solid combustible material (A-Class fire).